A mum-of-two who attacked a lone pensioner in his home before robbing him of £150 has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.
Rachel Shallcross, 39, tried to trick her way into the vulnerable 78-year-old’s bungalow by pretending she had lost her phone and asked to use the toilet.
But she then grabbed the OAP when he refused to let her in and threw him to the ground on his doorstep before stealing cash from his shirt pocket.
A court heard the victim suffered a head injury and was left shaken by the ordeal, which took place outside his property in Biddulph, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs.
Shallcross was identified from a neighbour’s CCTV and told officers when they arrived: “I know why you are here, I was going to report an old guy for attacking me”.
A court heard the drug addict mum was already on bail for selling heroin and crack cocaine to an undercover police officer in a local park.
On Monday she was jailed after pleading guilty to robbery and two charges of supplying Class A drugs at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
Sentencing, Judge Paul Glenn said: “What you did had a significant effect on the victim.
“He would have lost confidence and felt a loss of independence.
“People like him are entitled to feel safe and secure in their own homes.
“He now feels vulnerable.
“It has meant a lot to him, for you it was just another way of purchasing a bag of heroin.”
The court heard Shallcross, of Congleton, Stoke-on-Trent, knocked on the OAP’s door at 2.30pm on December 18 last year.
Prosecutor Richard Orme said: “He opened the front door and this defendant was stood on the step.
“She said she had lost her phone and asked if he had seen it.
“He replied, ‘No’. She asked if she could use his toilet. He said, ‘No’.
“The defendant grabbed him. He went sprawling down the steps. The defendant tried to hit him. Plant pots got smashed and he fell to the floor.
“She grabbed hold of his shirt and ripped his pocket off.
“He had £300 in two lots of £150. She took one of the bundles. She left him on the floor and ran off.”
Julian Farley, defending, said the defendant was using heroin and cocaine when she committed the offences.
He added: “She has asked me to apologise unreservedly to the pensioner for her behaviour.”
